.svg)
According to Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index, a global survey conducted in September 2022 among workers in a variety of sectors and businesses, more than half of managers (53%) say they feel exhausted at work.
While this percentage is remarkably high, it is only slightly higher than that of employees in general; and this finding is unfortunately not very surprising.
Indeed, managers had to guide their teams through a pandemic and its consequences, situations that required them to act with empathy while managing increasing demands with potentially fewer resources, often with insufficient recognition of their efforts.
While this state of affairs is worrisome, there are nevertheless several ways to recognize and fight against manager burnout - or burnout.
The signs of professional burnout
Christina Maslach, a pioneer researcher in the field of burnout, describes this phenomenon as a consequence of ongoing stress in the workplace, manifested by exhaustion, cynicism, and a sense of professional failure.
These symptoms emerge for six main reasons:
- An unsustainable workload: When a manager is overloaded with tasks and responsibilities without enough time to complete them, it can quickly lead to exhaustion. This overload can also limit the manager's ability to disconnect from work and rest, making the situation worse.
Read also: our article on the right to disconnect
- A feeling of lack of control: the lack of control over one's work, whether in terms of the tasks to be performed, how they should be carried out, or the distribution of working time, can generate a feeling of powerlessness, which in turn causes increased fatigue.
- Insufficient recognition for the effort made: lack of recognition can be demotivating and disheartening. If managers feel that their efforts and contributions are not being recognized or rewarded appropriately, they can start to disengage from their work, which can lead to cynicism and exhaustion.
- A lack of support: A work environment that lacks encouragement and camaraderie can increase feelings of isolation, especially among managers who generally have heavier responsibilities. The lack of support can also make it harder to manage stress and challenges, contributing to exhaustion.
- A feeling of injustice: perceived inequity, whether it's the unequal distribution of tasks, discrimination, or favoritism, can lead to resentment and stress, which in turn can lead to exhaustion and defocus managers.
- A discrepancy between values and skills: Finally, when a manager's personal values or skills are not in line with the requirements of his position or the values of the company, this can cause a feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration, key factors in professional burnout.
Each of these factors can contribute to managers' burnout, and it is fundamental for companies to Recognize And the Take on each other's arms proactively to support the well-being and effectiveness of their managers.
Understanding and fighting burnout
Burnout is a real challenge for organizations today, but fighting it can also become an opportunity to grow and renew ourselves.
To face them, managers and human resources managers must embrace a crucial mission: understand and measure its components in order to be able to identify and counter it effectively among managers. How, you ask? The answer is as simple as it is essential: by listening carefully to managers.
Imagine for a moment: You are at the helm of a large ship, the seas are rough and the visibility is poor. As a captain, you rely on the signals sent by your crew members to navigate safely.
In the same way, in the context of an organization, managers are those crew members who, through their position and experience, can provide valuable signals to navigate through the sometimes tumultuous waters of burnout.
Listening closely to managers is a valuable compass in this approach.
It's not only about getting their feedback and concerns, but it's also about understanding their experiences, challenges, and needs.
What motivates them? What discourages them? How do they feel about their role? What are their aspirations and how do they see their future evolution within the organization? All of these questions are threads to be drawn in order to map burnout and find effective solutions to combat it.
Listening attentively is an act that requires time, commitment and a real desire to act on what is heard.
It requires creating a trusting environment where managers feel safe enough to openly share their feelings, without fear of judgment or repercussions.
It's about understanding their realities in an empathetic way, recognizing them, and taking action to support them.
Read also: our internal survey model on flexible work policy
Once this listening is in place, managers and human resources can then measuring the components of professional burnout and identify actions to be taken.
The aim is not only to reduce exhaustion, but also to increase the well-being and effectiveness of managers, so that they can be inspiring leaders for their teams.
Fighting burnout is not just about calming a storm, but about navigating to more serene and promising horizons for your entire organization. Travel may well be more exciting and rewarding than you imagined, provided you are properly equipped.
The role of digital tools in managing burnout
Digital tools are no longer a simple option in our daily professional lives; they have become a necessity, a pillar on which to rely to navigate in a constantly changing world of work.
What if we told you that a tool like m-work could become your best ally in the fight against burnout? Imagine for a moment a capable tool to ease your mental load in the organization for managers.
Not by reducing the quantity of work to be done, but by making its management more fluid, more intuitive.
m-work allows you to have an overview of your team and its schedule, to save time in organizing meetings or One-to-one. All this in a digital environment designed to be as easy to use as possible, and integrated.
The aim? Allow you to focus more on completing your missions, rather than on schedule management. A small revolution that can contribute to reducing your stress level and fighting exhaustion.
In conclusion: take the bull by the horns
For managers to thrive, organizations must commit to listening to them continuously, to act on their feedback, and to measure progress.
Examining the three dimensions of burnout - exhaustion, cynicism, and professional effectiveness - is critical to understanding the problem and identifying actions that can improve each dimension.
The more managers feel comfortable engaging openly with their employer, the richer this feedback loop will be, allowing organizations to curb burnout and create a work environment where everyone's energy is sustainable.
